


(tasty) chunks of happiness

by aortaxx



Series: bitter and the sweetness [2]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, First Times, Fluff, M/M, Multi, Post-Endgame, but it's just a few milestones to document their relationship tbh, mainly filled with cute things, rating may change in the future :P, this is kinda a one-shot collection of sequels to my other story
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-05-26
Updated: 2019-05-30
Packaged: 2020-03-19 21:53:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,376
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18979078
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aortaxx/pseuds/aortaxx
Summary: a collection of one-shots (for ironstrange first times) continuing my other work, but can basically be read as stand-alones too? it just makes more sense if you read the other one first, but this is for everyone who asked for more <3





	1. first 'i love you's exchanged

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hello once more! i heard all of you that demanded sequels and so here i am, delivering what you want! i have 4 ideas for any 'first times' in their relationship, but if you have any as well, feel free to leave them in the comments below and enjoy!

Tony knows that relationships are no easy feat to maintain— getting into them was fairly easy, but it’s tending to them and keeping them alive that was the tricky part of it. That showed as soon as he realized that Stephen Strange was no expert when it came to relationships, having broken the few ones he had off (on bad terms to that) with little to no experience in communicating properly and what it means to be in a truly functional and steady relationship. It’s little things that gave that away, but mostly his reaction to Tony’s willingness to compromise, how surprised he looked when Tony gave in for once in his life, to which Tony had to give all the credit to Pepper for.

“If you’re so _desperate_ to get Chinese, then we’ll do that. I’m scared what would happen to you if we didn’t at this point.”

He turns around to call, but Stephen just stares at him almost suspiciously and Tony raises a brow right back at him, Morgan and the cloak watching them from the table.

“What? You said you wanted Chinese and I’m ordering it. What’s with that look?”

“… It’s just uncharacteristically _compassionate_ of you, that is all.”

Tony rolls his eyes at the sorcerer and ends up calling the place anyways, knowing all their orders by heart and it worries him a little bit that Stephen was so insistent on picking fights over the smallest things. Some things were teasing and poking fun— which Tony enjoyed too, so he didn’t mind that much. But when it’s such insistence over unimportant things, the hero can’t help but be concerned about Stephen’s understanding of a healthy relationship.

 

[*]

 

He brings it up the next time they’re staying at the Sanctum, rolled up in Stephen’s bed next to each other and even if it was a tad cramped and only had one pillow, Tony was perfectly at ease.

“Why don’t we talk about our exes?”

Stephen doesn’t even give him the eyebrow at this point, now he just groans and turns to not have to face the other man anymore, probably trying to fall asleep, but Tony has never been known to give up easily when it came to anything at all.

“No, I mean it. It’ll be fun.”

“That is literally the most awkward topic you could choose to talk about and yet you insist?”

“Alright, I’ll start. I had my first girlfriend in high school, she was called Cheryl, captain of the cheerleaders and really pretty, icy blonde and that. A bit dumb, though. Wasn’t the most satisfying relationship, I’d say.”

Stephen snorts against the pillow, but does slowly turn back around to face him and Tony immediately established eye-contact to let Stephen know that he’s completely serious. With action came reaction (as all physicists know) and Tony would try his hardest to find out what kind of action caused this kind of behaviour to be installed within the other man.

“… Sounds interesting.”

“Good, because I will tell you more after you’ve had your go.”

There’s a tense moment of consideration, a moment Tony doesn’t let escape as he keeps his stare fixated right on the pupils of Stephen’s eye until he sees him budge and give in with a groan.

“You’re insufferable… My first relationship wasn’t until college. I was more of a diligent and quiet kid in high school, but you know how colleges are. All of those relationships broke off because I was too busy and when medical school started, I had even less time. Nothing significant amongst it all.”

It left the engineer thinking for a moment, his hand reaching up to pull the other man in for a kiss while trying to sort out his response, sensing the confusion in Stephen’s slow reciprocation, but it’s not as surprising as he thought it would be. He didn’t mean to boast about being good at relationships, but he _did_ manage to keep Pepper around for long enough to have a proper family and she taught him enough to at least deserve an award for turning him into a plausible partner.

“I mean, I didn’t have a lot of significant relationships either. Not until the recent years, at least. Everything before that was mostly One-Night Stands.”

“Why am I not surprised?”

“Maybe because I’m dashing and so it’s completely understandable if someone wants to take me home for the night or forever?”

He has an arm rest lightly over Stephen’s side now and it’s a perfect transition over to another topic after his suspicions have been confirmed. The sorcerer was still reluctant to even sleep without a shirt next to him (or in general), but Tony would never push him and so he just lets his arm rest there, comfortably and moving a bit closer to steal another kiss, which Stephen allows with little back-talk. This revelation lets Tony form a plan in his head that he puts into the excitement of the kiss, hearing the flabbergasted noise that escapes Stephen when he shifts his weight a bit more, deciding he could do this for a while (or forever, honestly).

 

[*]

 

Stephen would not say he was _disappointed_ to not find Tony resting against him when he woke up, but he simply couldn’t find another word to put on that emotion otherwise. It had become a steady weight and sort of an anchor to him over the course of the past months. But he probably wasn’t far and even if he was, it probably just meant that work called, which Stephen understood just as well as any other superhero would.

“Stephen!”

The loud scream of his name rattled him awake, eyes wide open as he hears Tony’s voice call out for him and he desperately hopes that this was not an emergency, but his sling ring is on in a matter of seconds before he’s stepping into the kitchen, ready to blast just to see Tony blink at him in their ridiculous neon pink cooking apron Wong bought as a gag gift a year ago.

“What in the name of the Vashanti are you doing?”

Tony recovered pretty quickly from that, stepping aside just to reveal the grand stack of food behind him on the counter, looking like he’d just run an entire marathon and won it too. The sorcerer had to take a moment to take all of it in, feeling a tension build up as Tony looks at him with anticipation and Stephen almost wants to throw himself back onto his bed again, mainly because this looks like it’d give him the grandest headache ever.

“Tony, you know I get nauseous when I eat before noon.”

“That is why I made _brunch_ , not breakfast. This look like a regular breakfast to you?”

Stephen rubs his temples and he has to admit that the gesture was cute— if it had not been for the fact that he _knows_ he would throw up if he even had a small slice of bread. Tony seemed to sense how distraught he was and so he whipped something else up, spinning around to grab it from behind him and Stephen couldn’t believe his eyes.

“I even made you tea.”

“… You _hate_ that tea.”

Tony’s lips pull into a self-satisfied smile, probably because the surprise the sorcerer was feeling was visible on his face, shaky hands reaching out to grasp the tea pot Tony was holding up with shaky hands.

“I do, but I asked Wong to show me how to make it. You know, so I can make it for you. Because you like it so much. Sometimes I worry what would happen if you had to choose between me and this tea for some reas…—”

“I love you.”

Tony looks at him like a deer caught in the headlights, their hands touching over the handle of the ancient tea cup they always use in the Sanctum and Stephen only realizes what he just said once Tony opens his mouth to reply, the crinkled space in-between his eyebrows indicating nothing too good from Stephen’s experience, shoulders tensing as he braced for impact.

“I make _all_ of this for you, slave over it for hours without even hiring a cook or asking Wong to help and you tell me this over this _damn_ tea?!”

The sorcerer just keeps on staring, still in a slight state of shock as their hands grow warm on the pot, but Tony looked genuinely offended and that can win a laugh out of him, curling his fingers a little bit so they can rest over Tony’s properly.

“… I knew you hated this tea.”

The other hero looks so out of it that he just shakes his head and lets Stephen hold the pot instead before grabbing a plate and some cutlery, picking up a few items from the buffet he arranged and sitting down at the table with a pout, very obviously displeased with how this idea has turned out. Stephen looked at the tea with so much fondness, thankfulness and _love_ — that Tony didn’t make this more awkward was appreciated beyond measure and so Stephen chooses to follow his example.

“What are you doing?”

“Eating what you made for me.”

“Didn’t you _just_ say you get nauseous from eating in the morning?”

“Didn’t you just say you hate my tea?”

Tony stares at him as if he was an illusion and Stephen takes great pleasure in taking a bite from the bread Tony had laid out for them, the tables having turned as he pours himself a cup of tea as well, entirely willing to risk a stomach ache for once.

“… I love you too.”

“I’m glad we agree on something for once.”

Slowly they return to their food and it’s silent, but not awkward— at least not when Stephen feels the familiar touch of Tony’s knee bumping into his under the table and Stephen gives a small smile over the rim of his teacup, more than content with how this morning had turned out to be.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i hope you enjoyed this??? i really like to think that stephen is Useless at relationships, especially seeing as he handled things in his own movie with christine, so i wanted to explore that a bit more... because of course tony isn't easy either, but i just think that pepper really helped him figure out how to maintain a (healthy) relationship and i wanted to reflect on that here! idk how consistently i can uplodad, but i think i can certainly deliver more before the weekend, so stay tuned and leave your thoughts in the comments below or message me on tumblr @aortaxx!


	2. the first time morgan called stephen her parent

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> and this is my second idea! because the topics (overall) for this collection is ‘first times’, another first time i chose is the first time morgan (basically) calls stephen her parent, which i also consider a very big milestone! can be read as a stand-alone i think, but it makes more sense if you’ve read part one first? but i hope you enjoy either way and thanks to everyone who left kudos and arkk who commented (<333)

The number of Stephen’s visits over the course of the weeks have only increased (to no one’s surprise) and Tony sees how Morgan never questioned it and he was almost grateful for that— the struggles of a single father. The question was always rather _open_ if it was there at all, at least until Tony remembers that one time he (not so) accidentally told school staff that Stephen was his fiancé and would thus come visit Morgan at her school in his stead. That has now come to bite him in the ass when he reads a letter about parent-teacher conferences at which both parents are asked to come. He’s Tony Stark, of course he could opt Stephen out of that, but he decides to ask him first.

“Sugarplum, you wanna escort me to Morgan’s parent-teacher night?”

Stephen breathes out audibly at the nickname, because Tony knows he hates those overly-cozy nicknames with a passion, but turns around to look at him from where he was watching something, scratching his beard.

“… I don’t know, do you _want_ me to come?”

“This isn’t about what _I_ want, I’m asking you if you want to come along so I won’t die of sheer boredom that evening.”

“I can. If that’s fine by you.”

Tony knows Stephen was reluctant to become too involved in Morgan’s life and he could understand that, but if Tony was trying to build up something consistent and stable out of this, then including his daughter would have to happen now or later— and Tony is rather a ‘ _now_ ’-kind of guy.

“You’re coming, then. Great. Be ready on Tuesday, seven o’clock and do not wear that cloak. Also tell Wong’s he’s on for babysitting, thanks Sugar.”

Stephen doesn’t even need to reply because the cloak is very obviously displeased with Tony’s way of excluding it and decides to chase after him into the kitchen as Morgan giggles while he tries to fight it off, so he thinks that it will all go just fine like this.

 

[*]

 

Tony feels immediate relief as soon as he realizes that Stephen had opted out of his usual style of clothing and instead came rather fashionably dressed— almost as if he had been invited to a gala instead of a parents-teacher evening. But Tony still greets him with a lingering kiss, their hight-difference forgotten when he puts his arm around Stephen’s waist to easily pull him closer. There’s a warning nick at the edge of his bottom lip when he pulls back, which Tony deems fair because they were indeed rather close to school grounds right now.

“Can you keep your hands to yourself for an hour? Is that even physically possible for you?”

“Yeah, I don’t think homophobia has stopped being enough of a thing for me to make out with you in the classroom in front of all the teachers yet.”

He also heard the very clear and very much repeated ‘ _You’re impossible_ ’ under his partner’s breath, clinking their hips against each other as he offers his arm for Stephen to take, settling for a self-satisfied smile when Stephen slides his arm into the slope of his elbow and they enter the building. Stephen remembers the way around, mostly from when Tony sent him to oversee Morgan’s school day as a special occasion by the school— which had been pretty alright. Morgan was a bright girl and watching her learn and excel had been a pleasure, but suddenly he’s hyperaware of how close they were walking (but that was supposed to be _the thing_ about it), but it’s pretty obvious was Tony was going for here, so he decides he would play along.

“Ah, Mr. Stark! We’ve been expecting you!”

There is a reflex that makes him want to pull his arm back to his own side again, but Tony pressed it more firmly against his side, insistent on keeping it there as he gave a nod to that same teacher that had been sucking up to Stephen during his entire visit a couple of months prior.

“Mr. Smith, good evening.”

“Good evening to you as well and to your…—“

“ _Fiancé_ , actually. Doctor Stephen Strange, neurosurgeon.”

Stephen decides that it’s just so like Tony to want to set a mark like this, a clear strike out of confidence and Stephen doesn’t even flinch when his hand is being shook (way too harshly) by the other man, apparently named Mr. Smith, with the side of Tony’s ribcage gently holding his arm in its grip, a steady support (and he's sure if _anyone_ could pull off a power-couple, it was them). The flickering to their joined grip doesn’t escape either of them, but this was Tony’s playing field and Stephen would have to trust him enough to follow his lead.

“So, we’ve sitting down together here today to talk about your daughter, Morgan Stark. There are almost only positive things to say, really. She does very well on written exams, even if her verbal participation in class leaves a little bit to be desired. The only subject she seems to be having trouble with is English, do you know why that could be?”

Stephen gazes at Tony from the corner of his eyes, who smiles a little at the note (and Stephen is almost sure it’s because he was reminded of himself), but the way that question was phrased seemed off to the sorcerer, but he stays silent to let Tony do the talking.

“Morgan’s kinda shy, she doesn’t talk a lot, never really has. But that’s just part of her lovely personality, that’s all.”

There has always been this way of saying that a boy becomes a man and the final evolution happens when the man becomes a father— Stephen begins to see what they would be saying with that, because he’s certain he could listen to Tony Stark talk about this daughter for hours. The lightness of pride radiating off of him infected Stephen a bit, as it had even when he had been here the first time.

“That’s true of course, but are you sure she… has enough opportunities to practise conversation? I know you must be quite busy as CEO of such a large company and Mr. Strange as a neurosurgeon…—“

Both of them realize immediately what the teacher was insinuating and Stephen is sure he could see Tony’s hand twitch a little bit, so he decides to go with the tone Tony had set earlier and take Tony’s hand again. His grip isn’t firm in the least, but the touch snaps the engineer out of it a little bit, ignoring the slowly raising eyebrow Mr. Smith was giving them.

“I will have you know that I work from home a lot. Are you implying that I neglect my daughter?”

“O-Of course _not_ , I simply…—“

“I think he wants to suggest that we should maybe consider hiring a private tutor, Tony.”

Stephen is certain that this was _not_ what the teacher had been implying, but the dangerous wave in Tony’s tone let him mark the line very clearly before it got too out of hand and for the rest of the evening, the man kept his remarks to himself (but Stephen still didn't let go of Tony’s hand until they left).

 

[*]

 

As soon as they left, Tony spat on the side-walk and even if Stephen crinkled his nose in reply, he couldn’t agree more for once. They joked about this before going in, but hearing it all first-hand and seeing the prying eyes and hearing all those overly-personal questions, it became real and neither of them liked it.

“I regret bringing you along. You’re the only reason that asshole still has a face.”

“Sometimes you need to control your temper, Tony. He is sucking up to you as much as he can, I’m actually surprised there’s no saliva on your shoes.”

A dry laugh comes from the other hero, but it’s obvious that this is not entirely satisfactory and Stephen (despite being _very_ aware of the fact that they were still on school grounds), presses a soft kiss to the engineer’s lips. He feels almost smug when he senses Tony’s hands fall from the air uselessly, trying to get onto him instead, but he pulls away before things can get too out of hand, shaking his head at the protesting noises Tony made.

“I’m sure that’s enough of a show for the staff. Let’s head home.”

“… Fine.”

He can see that Tony probably would have loved to make out for hours in front of the entire teacher staff, but luckily Stephen had come along (mostly as damage control). He opens a gate as soon as they’re around the corner right into their living room, feeling relief as Tony flops down onto the couch with a groan as the sorcerer moves to take off his coat. After that, he sits down on the couch besides the other man, feeling arms crawl up and around his waist, feels Tony rub his face into the back of his dress shirt, still groaning as Stephen lets a shaky hand slide over dark strands of hair.

“I don’t know what else you expected, realistically speaking.”

Tony doesn’t give him a coherent response, instead he just tries to shift enough to be able to rest his chin on Stephen’s thigh, looking up at him through his lashes and if Stephen would be less involved in this argument, he would give in right then and there, but if becoming Sorcerer Supreme had taught him one thing, it was the importance of willpower.

“I’m serious, did you…—“

“… Dad?”

There’s a meek voice from towards the kitchen and there stood Morgan in her pyjamas, holding her favorite bunny plushy while looking at them with curious eyes, shifting on her feet and Tony smiled immediately, soft and fond like he only does for her. He rises from the couch and the spot where his head had rested felt empty and cold when the weight was gone, but instead Tony just pats the space on the couch next to him.

“You shouldn’t even be awake anymore, Missy.”

Morgan giggles in that childish kind of embarrassment, having been found out by her father and Stephen’s lip curl into a small smile as well. They watch Morgan slowly walk up to them and crawling up on the couch besides them, giving them an almost mischievous grin as she stared up at her father.

“Did you talk to my teacher?”

Stephen’s stare must have been just as perplexed as Tony’s, because she giggles again and hides a bit more behind her bunny as Tony strokes her hair with a raised eyebrow, as if slightly alarmed by that extensive information his daughter possessed.

“Why yes I did, honeybear. How did you know?”

“My friend from school said that our parents would talk to all the teachers tonight.”

The sorcerer wants to laugh when he sees the stress seep out of Tony’s body and he falls back against the back of the couch, just patting his daughter’s head— Stephen wasn’t sure what he had imagined either, but living alone with a child must give you a kind of paranoia of its own. Also because Morgan was beyond smart for her age, so her figuring all of this out through brains alone wouldn’t lie in the realm of impossibility.

“Why didn’t you go too, Stephen?”

Now they are truly confused (and overwhelmed), staring at the young girl besides them on the couch in slight disbelief and Stephen isn’t sure what he was supposed to say to that, but Morgan clutches her bunny a little tighter (as if upset) and Tony beats him to the punch.

“He did come along with me, sweetheart. Why are you asking?”

That seems to embarrass her a little more, squirming on her spot on the couch and trying to shield herself from their questioning eyes behind her bunny with another giggle, only causing Tony to raise his eyebrow even higher and Stephen’s pretty sure his sweat-glands had begun to stress out as well.

“Because my friend asked me if both my parents would go and I said yes.”

“... So you think of Stephen as your parent?”

Tony sends Stephen a meaningful look and Stephen is frozen, because he didn’t expect this to be so nerve-wracking— but here he was, Sorcerer Supreme and protector of the universe, more desperate for the approval of a five-year-old girl than he would _ever_ admit, staring at Morgan who was now trying to grab a pillow to hide herself, seemingly very bashful when it came to this topic.

“… _Yes_.”

She doesn’t say more than that as she slowly seems to be swallowed up by the couch, her bunny and the pillow surrounding her like a fortress, but Stephen’s pretty sure his heart just stopped beating for a brief moment and Tony looks shocked for a moment, but then his eyes immediately soften. He’s surprised a five-year-old could even grasp the concept of a parent, but he wouldn’t complain either way, because Stephen looks like he was just about to have a heart attack right then and there.

“Well, you don’t have to worry about anything then. Stephen and I talked to your teacher and he told me how smart you were, as if I didn’t know that already.”

An expertise at changing topics, which let Stephen have a few moments to process the fact that Morgan basically just told them she views him as a father too, which left him overwhelmed in many ways. He’s not very good with children, not like Tony who can make them laugh and be entertaining, can be a great role model and—

As if realizing his internal struggle, Tony takes his hand (and _god_ , he still grasps it so gently in the way that makes him melt) and gives him another pointed look. So Stephen takes a deep breath while Morgan looks back and forth between them before putting her hand onto her father’s, resulting in all their hands just stacked upon each other and the sorcerer has to crack a smile too. Because their eyes told him that there is _time_ — time to learn and time to be spent together, as a family. Stephen knew that Tony would never force him to take this upon himself either if he didn't want to, but Stephen wanted to and finally, it was not even partially out of guilt anymore— soley out of adoration and _love_.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> these three make me so soft... but i hope you liked this one too, a bit more humor than in the last one, hehe UwU but i also wanted to touch on a more serious topic like homophobia like i have in my main story before as well. tony is exactly the type of person to provoke these kind of stereotypes of supposed dysfunctionalities of gay families and he's also completely unapologetic about it, which i adore sososo much because fuck homophobia! ALRIGHT and the next one might change a bit of rating (winkwink), but we’ll see! leave your thoughts down below as always and i love you all!


	3. the first time stephen showed tony his scars

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> alright!!! i'm sorry to be late with this chapter, but i have it all together now! this is a bit more intimate compared to all the other works i've done up to now, but i felt like it needs to be adressed too! i still hope you enjoy this chapter as much as you usually do and i love all of you <3

 Tony has always made up for his lack of communication through affections, small gestures and touches that he hoped would express his care when his words failed him. It has always been like that and it was no different now that he was with Stephen— there’s still a hurdle to take for both of them and that was to overcome their unwillingness to be vulnerable with each other. Both felt like it was a sign of weakness, that no one should be given the opportunity to hurt them, whether they take it or not. But with Stephen’s shaking hands resting on top of his thighs ever so lightly, he finds that he doesn’t care much at the moment, not when Stephen could astral-project him at any given second anyways.

“Curious hands you got there Doc.”

“There is a lot of space to rest them there, that is all.”

“… Are you calling me fat?”

The hands travel a little higher, right to where Tony’s legs part from his hips and a thumb fills the space, still not pressing but the weight was very much _there_ , as if Tony basically sitting in the other hero’s lap wouldn’t be enough bodily contact already.

“I’m sure that’s what I want to get across with that, yes.”

He’s not sure if he imagined it, but the tone of Stephen’s voice had changed ever so slightly, the look in his eye a little more certain than it was before. The argument is forgotten as soon as Tony moves his hips a little bit under the sorcerer’s touch and the grip right under his hipbones tightens— a _rare_ thing, because being too rough with his touch would hurt Stephen himself, but it electrifies Tony like no other little touch ever could for that exact reason.

It’s all teasing, always has been between them. Tony knows that touch will lead nowhere and he’s alright with that, but that doesn’t stop his hand from twitching where he has it rested against Stephen’s shoulder. A part of him wonders how much experience Stephen has had with his past partners— physically. Some part of him is convinced he only feeds Tony so little because he knows it’ll drive him stir-crazy, while another part of him also knows that too much touching would only hurt the sorcerer’s hands. So instead, he just kisses Stephen again to stop his mind from being overly-active.

“Tony, I… have to get to work.”

If this wouldn’t be how it usually ends, Tony would be disappointed, but this is how it always goes and he is mindful of Stephen’s boundaries, as he is of Tony’s own. He does stare at him for an extra few seconds just to take in all the emotions running across the other man’s face, but eventually just moves off, nodding and gathering his pants from around the room somewhere pretty quickly.

“Sure, me too. I’ll see you tonight.”

And as soon as he’s gotten his pants on and fetched his jacket from somewhere, he’s kissed Stephen a quick goodbye on the lips, slipping out of the door and shutting it behind him. Tony would give him as much space and time as he needed and setting your hopes low would only result in more pleasant surprises, is at least what he says to himself as he exits the Sanctum with a hum. Patience was a virtue, after all.

 

[*]

 

Tony being like this was unnerving, to say the least. Sometimes Stephen wasn’t sure if he was grateful or offended over the other hero treating him like he’s made out of glass— deep inside he knows that Tony _knows_ he’s strong and could kick his ass if he wanted to, but the other part of him still felt fragile when Tony touched him. It’s exactly because the touch was so considerate and gentle that it feels like it could break him so easily, even when Tony was merely holding his hand or kissing it softly. He would curse it if it didn’t leave him feeling so warm inside, gooey and useless.

“Stephen? Will you play with me? Dad says he has work to do.”

Another hand grips his (too tightly) and he winces a little, but he can’t really resist Morgan’s begs and shy eyes, so he lets her pull him along, trying to ignore the ache of his joints as she leads him outside. He’s never been good with kids, but at least he could be _entertaining_ — he wasn’t the Sorcerer Supreme for nothing, after all.

“And… whoosh.”

Morgan falls into a portal under her and it goes on like that, flipping from one portal to another and she’s laughing in no time, jumping around in the air like it’s her second nature and Stephen just smiles as he watches her. Nothing feels better than to see her laugh, both her and Tony, who was just coming around the corner from behind the house with a raised eyebrow at the whole action that was going down.

“And… _catch_.”

His joints protest as he catches Morgan from the portal above him in his arms, but he doesn’t care, not when she begs him to go again and smiles like there are no bad things in the world. Tony looks a lot more distressed in the meantime, rushing over and taking Morgan from him. For a moment he thinks he scared the other man (understandably) by flipping his daughter through the air over and over again, but when he sees the look directed at him in Tony’s eyes, he sees concern.

“Sweetheart, go do your homework. You know, work before play. After that, I’ll play with you, okay?”

Morgan pouts, but does as she’s told when her father kisses her forehead, strolling inside as Tony steps closer to Stephen, reaching out his hands and the sorcerer knows what’s next.

“You don’t need to do that, you know. You can just play with the millions of toys I bought for her.”

And there it is, that soft touch when Tony reaches below his hands to cup them in his own, looking them over as if they were the most fragile thing in the world— and suddenly, there’s this suspicion of a feeling of being pitied that rises up in Stephen’s body like rage and he takes them back to himself, stare accusing.

“I am _not_ made of glass if you have not noticed. I can handle one child.”

“Believe me, I know that from personal experience. But some things are even above us superheroes, if _you_ haven’t noticed.”

There’s a calmness in Tony’s voice that hasn’t been there when they first met and Stephen thinks years of being a husband and father did that to him. It only helps Stephen in feeling inferior and he clings to that feeling. He feels his own breathing getting uneven, but Tony still only has an eyebrow raised at him and before he can gather the words for an ugly outburst, Tony kisses him. It’s sweet, no backdoor thoughts or lingering hands— just a kiss in all its possible innocence and that stole Stephen’s breath like nothing else ever could.

“You can take some ice from the fridge to ease the pain if you wanna. I’m gonna start cooking soon. Also, take a picture, it’ll last longer.”

A moment passes before Stephen just nods numbly, staring at Tony with a look that only draws a smile on the other hero’s face, winking a little as he walks back inside, leaving Stephen stunned in his backyard, wishing for once that Tony was still the arrogant asshole he used to be years back so it would be easier to hate him.

 

[*]

 

The next time they’re in bed together a few days later, Stephen had proper time to think about everything. It remains a fact that he doesn’t like other people seeing the extensive injuries his accident had left behind on his body, but he remembers that Tony’s own body wasn’t the most flawless either. He’s reminded of how Tony let him touch the reactor over his heart and let his fingers trace the many scars and he didn’t seem the least bit bothered— another infuriating thing about Tony Stark.

“I think I had too much coffee earlier.”

“You _think_?”

Tony looks at him and there doesn’t need to be light in the bedroom for Stephen to be able to tell. The moonlight outside his window was just the right amount of light for him to be able to detect Tony’s movement, but the straying hand running over his side still surprised him a bit.

“I also think that it’s too early to sleep.”

“Your sleeping scheduled is also seriously out of order. And I would know, I’m a doctor.”

This is nice, just half-hearted jabs in bed next to each other when neither of them wants to sleep but also doesn’t want to leave the bed again to do other things. Tony’s wandering hand doesn’t lose his attention though, because now it’s playing with the hem of the shirt he’s always sleeping in— it always stays there and never crosses that unspoken line.

“You should tire me out then, Doc. Isn’t there a spell for that?”

Stephen is lost in the touch now, fingertips alternating between brushing the bare strip of skin on his stomach and the fabric of his shirt as he hums in reply. This was only about his own insecurity, nothing else. He knows that the other hero would never push him to do or reveal anything that he didn’t want to, but Stephen was growing seriously tired and knowing Tony wouldn’t make the first move?

“There is.”

With a big and brave inhale of air, he turns his body and rises into the touch, involuntarily lets Tony’s hand slide up the curve of his torso under his shirt while he leans in until he’s kissing the other man, hands shaking worse than ever before. He also hears Tony make a surprised noise against his lips, but it only takes a moment for him to realize that this was no accident and that Stephen wasn’t going to just pull away again. They were kissing, but Stephen is more focused on the careful search of Tony’s hand, travelling over the expanse of his abdomen slowly and it’s almost a little _satisfying_ to feel the engineer’s hands shake just as hard as his own.

He’s taken aback to find that he’s not having any second thoughts about this, though. Instead he’s unmoving, pushing the curve of his own body against Tony, almost insistent. Their kiss breaks for a moment, right when the tips of Tony’s finger rise onto the hill of his left pectoral muscle and that’s exactly where the worst of the scars lie. Their eyes meet and all it leaves Stephen with was smugness— smug because Tony looks positively _awed_ , just staring at his face to detect any sign of discomfort, probably. But even when Stephen feels the fingers run over the countless scars left by glass shards and metal, he doesn’t move away and instead just kisses the other man again.

This time, he can focus a bit more on the kiss and it’s nice, the way Tony’s breath seems to be stolen by something so simple and Stephen was revelling in it. Even as Tony’s other hand just the first one under his shirt, he lets him and the exploring hands become part of something bigger, all melt into one thing— _Tony_.

“Can I…”

Only when there’s a hand gripping the hem of his shirt again, Stephen realizes what he means and because Tony already had his torso exposed as well (scars and all), he nods courtly before trying to go back to kissing the other hero, but Tony sits up a bit straighter against the pillow with a pointed look and even in the pale moonlight, Stephen can tell his breathing was laboured and his cheeks were flushed. Stephen smiles a little again and decides to do him that favor and takes the hem in his own hands before slowly pulling his shirt over his head, baring himself for all to see.

“… I can’t believe you hid this from me this whole time, Jesus.”

If Tony looked less serious, Stephen would have hit him with the pillow next to him, but Tony still looks awestruck, staring at him and letting his eyes travel over everything Stephen just revealed to him. His own hands were shaking a little less now, but Tony seems almost frozen and Stephen never thought he would even think such a thing, but it’s almost _cute_.

“Maybe you want to consider taking a picture, it will last longer.”

The engineer looks at him in disbelief, that he’s even cracking jokes (Tony’s own back at him, nonetheless) in this moment, but it’s obviously all that was needed, because a second later, Tony’s hands were back on him, tracing every ridge and scar and muscle they could find. Even if the attention was a bit much at first, Stephen begins to slowly lean into it, enjoying the way the rough hands of a mechanic felt on him while he grips Tony’s shoulder and his face, getting lost in each other just like this.

And when they fell asleep against each other a few hours later, Tony’s chest pressed against his bare back, Stephen finds that this is a lot warmer (even with the lack of a shirt) and a lot more intimate. He could get used to this too, especially to the way Tony’s hands were crossed over his torso, just resting against his scars, as if protecting them— and for the first time in years, Stephen did not have nightmares that night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> if you have any more requests, leave a comment below! otherwise let me know what you would like to see next and thank you so much for reading! in the meantime, you can follow me on @aortaxx on tumblr for any updates or let me know what you want me to know in the comments down below!! kissu!


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